Li{hd 2{b O-ZnO-P{HD 2{B O{HD 5{B -glass

ABSTRACT

Inorganic oxide glasses having compositions within the range (mole %) P2O5 58-76 ZnO5-30 Li2O 5-25 Alkaline earths 0-10 HAVE GOOD DURABILITY AND LOW SOFTENING POINTS.

United States Patent [191 Ray et al.

[451 May 27, 1975 I 1 Li -ZnO-P O -GLASS [75] Inventors: Neil Hunter Ray; John Nicolas Clayton Laycock, both of Runcorn, England [73] Assignee: Imperial Chemical Industries Limited, Millbank, London, England [22] Filed: May 29, 1973 211 App]. No.: 364,637

[] Foreign Application Priority Data June 8, I972 United Kingdom 26807/72 [52] US. Cl 106/47 R [51] Int. Cl. C03c 3/16; C03c 3/30 [58] Field of Search 106/47 P, 47 R, 52

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,920,972 1/1960 Godron 106/47 R OTHER PUBLICATIONS Deutschbein, et al., Les Verres Phosphates, Nouveaux Materiaux Laser Revuede Physique Appliquere, 2 March 1967, p. 29 and 33.

Primary ExaminerWinston A. Douglas Assistant ExaminerMark Bell Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Cushman, Darby & Cushman [57] ABSTRACT Inorganic oxide glasses having compositions within the range (mole ZnO 5-30 Li O 5-25 Alkaline eanhs 0-10 have good durability and low softening points.

7 Claims, 1 Drawing Figure Numbers on Confoul Lines 0/? was of Afiackb 6 270 No/e PATENTEUMAYNM 3885-973 P2 0 Male Z0 30 u; 0 Mo/e Boundary 0P G/ass-Form/hg Range 0F 40 Numbers on Confour Lines are Pafes 0F Afiackb I I 6 Z70 Na/ e 1 a0 a0 flgi 1 Li O-ZnO-P O -GLASS This invention relates to inorganic oxide glasses. The invention provides inorganic oxide glasses having compositions in the range (moles ZnO 53() Li O 5-25 alkaline earths 0-10 the total of all the above components being at least 99 moles of the total composition, apart from water which may be present in amounts up to 5% by weight of the total, and apart from minor constituents for example SiO and Na O which amount to not more than 1 mole of the total.

We have found that lithium/zinc phosphate glasses of this type which can have transformation temperatures in the range l40280C according to water content, exhibit unexpectedly good resistance to attack by water when their compositions lie in the range quoted above.

Preferably the P 0 content lies between 65 and 76 moles Preferably also, the alkaline earths, if present, are magnesium oxide or barium oxide to the extent of up to 5 mole The attached diagram (FIG. 1) is a ternary diagram of the three-component system Li OZnO-P O showing contours of approximately equal rate of attack by water. The shaded zone indicates a region of maximum durability (minimum rate of attack by water) for this system. The addition of alkaline earths may further improve the durability.

A preferred composition which has good durability is as follows (mole P205 68.3 ZnO 9.75 Li O 19.5 MgO 2.44

Glasses according to the invention may be effective as fire-retardant additives in reinforced thermosetting composite materials as described in our copending British Pat. Nos. 26806/72, 2190/73. While any glasses within the scope of the invention may be effective as fire retardants, it may be desirable that the glasses should contain from 5-10 moles of alkaline earths. A preferred composition within this range is as follows (moles P205 65.1 ZnO 9.3 Li O 18.6 BaO 7.0

The glasses may be prepared by heating together the appropriate oxides, or their precursors. By precursor is meant a compound which on heating will react with the other components present to give the same chemical composition in the product as if the oxide had been used. Usually this reaction will occur with evolution of one or more volatile compounds, for example water, carbon dioxide and ammonia. Thus suitable precursors of phosphoric oxide include phosphoric acid and ammonium phosphates, while-carbonates may be used as precursors of metal oxides. Mixtures of an oxide and a precursor of that oxide, or of two or more precursors of the same oxide may be used, and the same compound may be used as a precursor of more than one ox ide, thus for example lithium phosphate is a precursor of U 0 and of P 0 The heating may be carried out in a two-stage process, in which some or all of the components are first heated together at a relatively low temperature, for example 300500C, to give a glassy mixture (conveniently referred to as the premelt), which is then refined at a higher temperature, for example 500800C. The duration of the first stage of the heating process, to form the premelt, is generally from 1-8 hr. When preparing a 2kg batch, a time of 2% to 4V2 hours is convenient. If less than all of the components are present at the initial heating stage the remaining material may be added subsequently before or during the refining stage. This method is convenient for small scale laboratory preparations, but alternatively the components may be mixed together and heated for example to 500800C in a single stage operation. The addition of the components may be made all at once or sequentially in a batch process, but it may be desirable, particularly when operating upon a large scale, to form the glass in a continuous process in which the mixture of components is continually or periodically being added to, and glass removed from, a reaction vessel maintained at the refining temperature.

During refining water is gradually lost, the glass network becomes more highly crosslinked, and the viscosity and transformation temperature (Tg) of the glass increase. Small amounts of volatile oxide components, for example P 0 may be lost during the refining stage, and it is desirable to keep the temperature below 800C when refining glasses according to the invention, to minimise any such loss. Glasses outside the scope of the invention containing more than 76% P 0 are liable to lose P 0 by volatilisation even at temperatures below 800C. As mentioned above, the residual water in glasses according to the invention may represent up to 5% by weight of the total, but is not included in the compositions set out above, which may be regarded as nominal molar compositions, in that they are based upon the composition of the initial mixture of components.

A glass of a given composition may have a range of transformation temperatures, depending upon the refining conditions, and a glass having any desired transformation temperature within this range may be obtained by routine experimentation involving selection of the appropriate conditions, for example time, temperature and batch size, in the refining step. The length of refining time required for a particular glass composition to reach a particular transformation temperature cannot be specified, as it depends upon the size of the batch, the type of furnace and crucible used, the exact temperature of the furnace, the furnace atmosphere and other variables. In general, the refining time may vary from 1 hour to one week, depending upon the desired transformation temperature and the variables listed above. However, if a given glass composition is refined until it reaches a given transformation temperature, which may bedetermined simply by differential thermal analysis of a cooled sample of the glass, properties such as water resistance will be reproducible from one batch of that composition to another. In general, the water resistance of a given glass composition increases with its transformation temperature.

tit .ithantagc' of the glass compositions of the pres iii no ention is their resistance to attack by water. The ate lit at men the glasses are dissoh ed by water may be mpressed as the rate of loss of weight of a standard "ample in units of 7mm at a gi\ en water temperature The rate of solution at the boiling point of water is ieterminctt b\ the following procedure: Approximatel Cu it molten glass is poured on to a steel plate and alowed to cool The re ulting smooth disc of glass. ap TUXllTllllCi 1cm in diameter and 03cm thick. is weighed. immersed in boiling water for 1 hour. dried ind reweighcd The weight loss di\ided by the initial \tlLht and multiplied b 100/60 gives the percentage weight lossiniinute ll e transformation temperature of the glass is deter mined by differential calorimetry using the Du Pont Differential Thermal inalyser. A sample of the pow .iered glass and a reference sample of pure powdered illlCll are heated at a programmed rate of temperature increase of Z(min and a graph is obtained of the emperature difference between the samples plotted .igainst the temperature of the reference sample. This .iurie txpicalh has a linear portion of small slope and i second linear portion of larger negative slope at higher temperatures The two linear portions are proiucett so that the intersect. and the transformation Iemperattire is tal-.cn as the temperature corresponding o the point of intersection.

The glasses oi the rmention may be suitable for coirocessing with organic polymers in composites as de' tcribed in ur copending British Pat. No. 18481170 and rub inorganic components as described in our copendnu British Pat No. lt l0f-j l The ma also be co Composition Mole 1 'l true from Start Temperature lTtttlls 7 I55 l70 I 180 1% 190 3 285 4 290 5 305 (i 325 After 6 hours the stirrer was removed, and the molten mixture transferred to a graphite crucible which was heated in a furnace at 700C. for 8 hours. The resulting glass was poured into a stainless steel mould and allowed to cool. Analysis showed it to contain 27% by weight of combined water and 39.0% by weight of phosphorus. It had the following properties:

T ransformation temperature 178C 10" A poise temperature 302C 10" poise temperature 343C Young's Modulus 6.) X l0 lb./in Tensile strength 6.9 X l0 lb/in Densit 2.5g/em Rate of attack b water at 65C. 1 V7! per hour at l0tl 0,291 per minute EXAMPLE 2 and 3 Following the general procedure described in Exam- 3 ple l two additional glasses were prepared with the compositions given below. Their transformation temperatures, densities and resistance to attack by water were found to be as given in the following table:

Rate of attack by E( Transformation Density Water at lOOC P 0 ZnO l.l MgO Temperature C g/cm "/2- per minute 3 em o 9 5 l l 4x 203 2.43 0.}

processed with pigments. opacifiers and the like.

l ilasses according to the present in\ention preferably LHL transformation temperatures below 300C. and ma\ ha\e transformation temperatures below 200C. Preferabh the rate of solution of the glasses in water at EXAMPLES 4 to 7 Following the procedure of Example 1. but substituting barium oxide for magnesia. the following glasses were prepared.

Composition Mole 71 Rate of attack by 0% is less than F .ITllIl ithophosphoric acidi trams of titliium carbon ite l1: grams of Zinc oxide. ind i5 grams of magnesium o\ide (corresponding to iiolar proportions of 3? P 0, W5? Li o. 9.75? Int) and 14-1; \lgUi were mited and w hen the et'olufion of carbon dioxide had ceased the mixture was lclllcti with stirring according to the following time if grams t able EXAMPLE 8 Following the procedure of Example 1, the following glass containing no alkaline earth and a high zinc oxide content was prepared:

Composition Mole /2 Transformation Rate of attack l"\ Temperature b water at 6g C 7r per P 0, ZnO Li. .O minute 4 o0 30 10 291C 0.00271/min EXAMPLE 9 The following glass contains more than one alkaline earth, and was prepared by the procedure of Example 1.

65 to 76 mole P Composition Mole Transformation ZnO Temperature Density glcm Rate of attack by Water at 100C per minute For convenience, the glasses of the foregoing examples have the following weight compositions:

Example P 0; ZnO Li O MgO 8:10

What we claim is:

1. An inorganic oxide glass composition consisting essentially of 58 to 76 mole P 0 5 to 30 mole ZnO;

5 to 25 mole U 0; and

0 to 10 mole of one or more alkaline earth metal oxides,

and wherein the total of all the above components is at least 99 mole of the total composition, apart from any water which may be present in the glass in amounts up to 5% by weight of the total composition, the glass having a transformation temperature of not greater than 300C. and a rate of solution in water at 100C. of

not greater than 1.3% per minute.

2. The glass composition as claimed in claim 1 in which the alkaline earth metal oxides. if present. are

5 to 30 mole ZnO;

5 to 25 mole U 0; and

0 to 5 mole MgO or 0 to 5 mole BaO.

4. The glass composition of claim 1 in which the ranges are:

58 to 76 mole P 0 5 to 30 mole ZnO;

5 to 25 mole Li O; and

5 to 10 mole of alkaline earth metal oxides.

5. The glass composition of claim 3 in which the composition is:

68.3 mole of P 0 9.75 mole of ZnO;

19.5 mole of U 0; and

2.44 mole of MgO.

6. The glass composition of claim 3 in which the com position. is:

65.1 mole of P 0 9.3 mole of ZnO;

18.6 mole of U 0; and

7.0 mole of BaO.

7. A method of preparing an inorganic oxide glass comprising the steps of providing of the inorganic oxides or their precursors in molar proportions according to claim 1 and heating to a temperature in the range 300C. to 500C. to produce a glassy mixture, heating the mixture to a temperature of between 500C. and 800C. and for such time until a glass having the desired transformation temperature is produced. 

1. AN INORGANIC OXIDE GLASS COMPOSITION CONSISTING ESSENTIALLY OF 58 TO 76 MOLE % P2O5; 5 TO 30 MOLE % ZNO; 5 TO 25 MOLE % LI2O; AND 0 TO 10 MOLE % OF ONE OR MORE ALKALINE EARTH METAL OXIDES, AND WHEREIN THE TOTAL OF ALL THE ABOVE COMPONENTS IS AT LEAST 99 MOLE % OF THE TOTAL COMPOSITION, APART FROM ANY WATER WHICH MAY BE PRESENT IN THE GLASS IN AMOUNTS UP TO 5% BY WEIGHT OF THE TOTAL COMPOSITION, THE GLASS HAVING A TRANSFORMATION TEMPERATURE OF NOT GREATER THAN 300*C. AND A RATE OF SOLUTION IN WATER AT 100*C. OF NOT GREATER THAN 1.3% PER MINUTE.
 2. The glass composition as claimed in claim 1 in which the alkaline earth metal oxides, if present, are selected from MgO and BaO.
 3. The glass composition of claim 2 in which the ranges are: 65 to 76 mole % P2O5; 5 to 30 mole % ZnO; 5 to 25 mole % Li2O; and 0 to 5 mole % MgO or 0 to 5 mole % BaO.
 4. The glass composition of claim 1 in which the ranges are: 58 to 76 mole % P2O5; 5 to 30 mole % ZnO; 5 to 25 mole % Li2O; and 5 to 10 mole % of alkaline earth metal oxides.
 5. The glass composition of claim 3 in which the composition is: 68.3 mole % of P2O5; 9.75 mole % of ZnO; 19.5 mole % of Li2O; and 2.44 mole % of MgO.
 6. The glass composition of claim 3 in which the composition is: 65.1 mole % of P2O5; 9.3 mole % of ZnO; 18.6 mole % of Li2O; and 7.0 mole % of BaO.
 7. A method of preparing an inorganic oxide glass comprising the steps of providing of the inorganic oxides or their precursors in molar proportions according to claim 1 and heating to a temperature in the range 300*C. to 500*C. to produce a glassy mixture, heating the mixture to a temperature of between 500*C. and 800*C. and for such time until a glass having the desired transformation temperature is produced. 